SAIKA Cafe pop-up events are creating a relaxed, nonjudgmental community around anime and nerd culture
“I am a strong believer that socializing is good for your health,” said Anya Laudenslager, the founder of SAIKA Cafe. She said she started hosting events at thea year ago to fill a niche for “alternative nightlife” — something other than going out to bars, clubs, or concerts. Mahfuza Chowdhury, 25, has been attending SAIKA Cafe events since Laudenslager’s first event last year because she also missed the feeling of in-person connections. Most of her interactions and relationships with people over anime have been online since she finished college, but SAIKA events have brought Chowdhury what she was missing. She’s been to most SAIKA events, and especially enjoyed its Japanese tea ceremonies.
“Especially as someone like me who’s very quiet and introverted, I don’t really openly speak a lot or connect with people easily, I really found it a lot easier to connect with others and relaxing compared to say, bigger events such as a party,” she said.According to Westly Mandoske, a tabletop roleplaying gamer and collaborator with Laudenslager, anime and other nerdom conventions can be places where people find community, but those events happen infrequently and are flawed.
“I don’t need to a whole new personality just to exist here,” he said. He’s part Chinese, and enjoys meeting new people who have sincere interests in East Asian culture.
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